As a resident of Minnesota who is contemplating the one year anniversary today of the 35W bridge tragedy, I wanted to diary the state of things as my own version of remembrance.

Today our state is honoring the victims by holding several memorial events, halting construction on the nearly completed, round-the-clock work that is happening on our new 35W bridge, and tolling all the bells in the state at 6:05pm, the time of the collapse.

So tonight, I came home and checked CNN as I usually do before I call it a night. I generally just scan the headlines to see what's going on. I saw the main story called "McCain camp pounces on Obama troop visit cancellation". It seemed rather baited, so of course I had to read it. What a mistake....

Hi there, MN Kossacks! It's time again for another MN Kossack meetup, hosted by Rosebuddear in NE Minneapolis. There are quite a number of MN Kossacks around here, and we would like to get the chance to meet each other. We hope that this will be a regular thing, with meetups every few months at someone's home.

I posted a diary on the last meetup, and you can see some photos here.

Hi there, MN Kossacks! It's time again for another MN Kossack meetup, hosted by Rosebuddear in NE Minneapolis. There are quite a number of MN Kossacks around here, and we would like to get the chance to meet each other. We hope that this will be a regular thing, with meetups every few months at someone's home.

I posted a diary on the last meetup, and you can see some photos here.

Hi there, MN Kossacks! It's time again for another MN Kossack meetup, hosted by Rosebuddear in NE Minneapolis. There are quite a number of MN Kossacks around here, and we would like to get the chance to meet each other. We hope that this will be a regular thing, with meetups every few months at someone's home.

I posted a diary on the last meetup, and you can see some photos here.

Hi there, MN Kossacks! It's time again for another MN Kossack meetup, hosted by Rosebuddear in NE Minneapolis. There are quite a number of MN Kossacks around here, and we would like to get the chance to meet each other. We hope that this will be a regular thing, with meetups every few months at someone's home.

I posted a diary on the last meetup, and you can see some photos here.

Just got word from the news that the US bases in Iraq have been attacked:

Nihao, Kossacks! I'm here for a few weeks visiting China, and seeing as how fascinating I find world travel, I thought perhaps a few of you would be interested in seeing a glimpse of how other people live, as well as taking a break from all the candidate diaries here as of late. Most of the people in this part of China don't live in their single family suburban homes with desk jobs, cars in the garages, etc.

The photos I am sharing here are from Yangshuo, China. This is about a one hour flight north of Hong Kong (which is in south central China) followed by a 2 hour car ride into the middle of nowhere. This is an area with a smallish main town, surrounded by small fishing villages and lots of land spread out between them.

Yangshuo is in the middle of numerous Karst peaks, the type of mountains you  see in the photos. You may recognize these mountains from Chinese and other Far Eastern paintings, as they are very unique and beautiful, and are a main draw for people around the world to visit here.

Score 1 for consumers!

After a fierce letter-writing campaign and vocal opposition, the Governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, stepped in and blocked the enforcement of the new rule to ban rBGH-Free labels which would have started January 1 2008. At this point, the matter is simply listed as being "delayed" for further review, but I am hopeful that due to the massive public outcry, this rule will be thrown into the trash where it belongs.

Hi there, MN Kossacks! Our first MN Kossack Meetup went off without a hitch -- a great time was had by all! It was held as a potluck yesterday at Parryander's house in South Minneapolis. We hope to hold a meetup at one member's house every few months or so, and hopefully we can meet a lot more of the MN Kossacks that are out there. If there are any of you that have not given me your email address to keep on my mailing list, please either post your email address in the comments below, or email it to me at jetskreemr [at] gmail [dot] com.

Hi there, MN Kossacks! It's finally time for our first MN Kossack meetup, hosted by myself and parryander! There are quite a number of MN Kossacks around here, and there has been plenty of talk of meeting one another, so now it's time to finally do something about it! We hope to make this more of a regular thing, with meetups every few months at the home of whoever would like to host a fun potluck party for all.

Hi there, MN Kossacks! It's finally time for our first MN Kossack meetup, hosted by myself and parryander! There are quite a number of MN Kossacks around here, and there has been plenty of talk of meeting one another, so now it's time to finally do something about it! We hope to make this more of a regular thing, with meetups every few months at the home of whoever would like to host a fun potluck party for all.

Hi there, MN Kossacks! It's finally time for our first MN Kossack meetup, hosted by myself and parryander! There are quite a number of MN Kossacks around here, and there has been plenty of talk of meeting one another, so now it's time to finally do something about it! We hope to make this more of a regular thing, with meetups every few months at the home of whoever would like to host a fun potluck party for all.

Hi there, MN Kossacks! It's finally time for our first MN Kossack meetup, hosted by myself and parryander! There are quite a number of MN Kossacks around here, and there has been plenty of talk of meeting one another, so now it's time to finally do something about it! We hope to make this more of a regular thing, with meetups every few months at the home of whoever would like to host a fun potluck party for all.

Hi there, MN Kossacks! It's finally time for our first MN Kossack meetup, hosted by myself and parryander! There are quite a number of MN Kossacks around here, and there has been plenty of talk of meeting one another, so now it's time to finally do something about it! We hope to make this more of a regular thing, with meetups every few months at the home of whoever would like to host a fun potluck party for all.

Wanted to keep this up so others would see. Here is waytac's diary from this morning:
http://www.dailykos.com/...

Hooray, what relief! Not since she posted that she left Iraq have I felt so relieved to hear about Riverbend and her family in safety as Iraqi refugees in Syria. She was so lucky to get out because it is becoming harder by the month  for people to get out of Iraq. Many countries are closing their borders, and as Riverbend explains in her blog, now even Syria is creating more rules in order for Iraqis to get into or stay in their country.

Sorry so short and sweet kids, but I thought maybe this would be a good thread for people to chat on about life during the temporary absence of C&J.

So, what do we do? We may not be able to read BiPM's witticisms and snark every morning, but could we continue a "meet-up" place for those of us that would like to continue chatting and checking in with all of our C&J friends? I always like checking in to hear about each person's goings-on, seeing pootie and puppy and vacation pics, and hearing general good morning wishes from all of you. Does anyone have any ideas for how to continue on in the meantime?

Perhaps a temporary diary series, either by one person or by a rotating cast? Or even just one particular morning open thread? Any thoughts anyone?

Anyone watching the MN Senate race may have seen Norm Coleman's ad in the MN StarTribune on Tuesday criticizing Al Franken for criticizing the ridiculous vote in the senate condemning the MoveOn.org ad last week. Coleman is trying the make Franken look bad, while the whole issue is just getting turned around in his face and making him look like an idiot.

From Minnesota Public Radio:

Coleman's ad features a photo of Franken pointing underneath the word "ridiculous." The ad says Franken used the word when asked about a Senate vote that condemned MoveOn.org's ad criticizing Army Gen. David Petraeus, the leading military commander in Iraq.

....

"You've got to choose whether you're going to stand with bipartisan coalitions or simply be beholden to MoveOn.org," Coleman said. "He's made a choice and I thought it was important for the rest of Minnesota to understand that that's the choice he's made."